upright=1.2|thumb|right|A damaged [[Coptic language manuscript of the Epistle of the Apostles]]
The Epistle of the Apostles () is a work of New Testament apocrypha. Despite its name, it is more a gospel or an apocalypse than an epistle. The work takes the form of an open letter purportedly from the remaining eleven apostles describing key events of the life of Jesus, followed by a dialogue between the resurrected Jesus and the apostles where Jesus reveals apocalyptic secrets of reality and the future. It is 51 chapters long. The epistle was likely written in the 2nd century CE in Koine Greek, but was lost for many centuries. A partial Coptic language manuscript was discovered in 1895, a more complete Ethiopic language manuscript was published in 1913, and a full Coptic-Ethiopic-German edition was published in 1919.
The work's intent is to uphold early orthodox Christian doctrine, refuting Gnosticism and docetism. The teachings of the Gnostics Cerinthus and Simon Magus are denounced as false. In the debate on the nature of Jesus's existence of the 2nd century, the Epistle of the Apostles firmly advocates that the incarnation of Jesus was of flesh and blood, and that the future resurrection in the Kingdom of God would also be a fleshly experience. The work is presented as having been written shortly after the Resurrection of Jesus, and offers predictions of the coming of Paul of Tarsus, the fall of Jerusalem, and of the Second Coming happening imminently in the 2nd century CE.
History
The text is commonly dated to the 2nd century, perhaps towards the first half of it. Charles E. Hill dates the Epistle to "just before 120, or in the 140s". Francis Watson dates it to around 170, after the Antonine plague, due to the references to death and disease as a sign of the end times. The work does not seem to assume a sharply differentiated or rigid church hierarchy, treats both gentile and Jewish Christians as part of the same group, and expects a 2nd-century return of Jesus: all signs of a 2nd-century origin. Most scholars favor an origin of Roman Egypt; other possibilities include Asia Minor and Roman Syria.